The Long Drive

# The Long Drive with AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + Intel Arc B370

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a heavily GPU-limited experience in The Long Drive, with the measured frame rates showing a clear ceiling imposed by the graphics solution rather than the processor. Across all tested resolutions and settings, the combo delivers playable results only at 1080p with lower presets, while 4K performance falls to single digits at maximum quality. The Arc B370, an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture with a 25 W TDP, sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs in the database, which contextualizes the measured results as being at the very bottom of the performance spectrum. Meanwhile, the Ryzen 7 9700F ranks at the 94th percentile among all CPUs, making the pairing a stark contrast between top-tier processing capability and entry-level graphics throughput.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals that the Intel Arc B370 is the limiting component in this configuration. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 86 FPS at 1920x1080 to 56 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 30 FPS, and then further down to 31 FPS at 3840x2160 — meaning 4K Low delivers only about 36% of the 1080p Low performance. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is being saturated by the increasing pixel count, with the render resolution directly dictating the frame rate ceiling.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all quality presets. At Medium settings, the average drops from 71 FPS at 1080p to 46 FPS at 1440p, then to 26 FPS at 4K. High settings show a similar trajectory: 44 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are the most punishing, with averages falling from 31 FPS at 1080p to 20 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 11 FPS at 4K. The consistent approximately 40-50% performance penalty when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another roughly 40-50% penalty from 1440p to 4K, suggests that the GPU's fill rate and pixel processing capabilities are the dominant bottlenecks at every resolution.

The data indicates that the Ryzen 7 9700F is not the limiting factor in any of these scenarios. If the CPU were the constraint, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences between resolutions, particularly at lower settings where the GPU has less work per pixel. Instead, the near-linear scaling with resolution points to a GPU that is fully utilized even at 1080p Low, where 86 FPS represents the absolute maximum this integrated solution can deliver. The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads, with a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, are more than sufficient to feed the Arc B370, which is confirmed by the lack of any resolution-independent frame rate plateau.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370's specifications explain its performance profile in The Long Drive. With 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster operation units, the GPU has limited parallel processing resources. The boost clock of 2400 MHz is reasonably high, but the pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are modest figures that cap throughput. The FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS places this GPU in a class well below discrete gaming solutions, and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 confirms this position, sitting at the 5th percentile among all GPUs.

Memory configuration further constrains performance. The Arc B370 uses system shared memory, with the bus width and bandwidth described as "System Shared" and "System Dependent" respectively. This means the GPU relies on the same DDR5 memory pool as the CPU, accessed over the dual-channel memory bus with a theoretical bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. Unlike dedicated GPUs with their own high-speed VRAM, the shared architecture introduces latency and bandwidth contention, particularly at higher resolutions where memory pressure increases. The impact is visible in the measured FPS data: even at Low settings, 4K performance drops to 31 FPS, suggesting that memory bandwidth becomes a critical constraint as pixel count rises.

The GPU's architecture, Xe3-LPG, is designed for integrated solutions rather than discrete gaming performance. The RT cores (10 of them) and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 indicate modern feature support, but the raw throughput is insufficient for demanding rendering workloads. In The Long Drive, a driving simulation that presents continuous outdoor environments with potentially complex geometry, the GPU's limited ROP count and shared memory architecture create a hard performance ceiling. The 25 W TDP also indicates thermal and power constraints that prevent sustained high clock operation under load, which is consistent with the observed frame rates.

FAQ

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so significantly from 1080p to 4K?

A: The Intel Arc B370 is the limiting component. At 1920x1080 Low, the average FPS is 86, but at 3840x2160 Low, it falls to 31. The GPU's limited pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and shared system memory configuration cannot keep up with the four-fold increase in pixel count, resulting in a steep performance decline.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F holding back performance in this game?

A: No. The Ryzen 7 9700F ranks at the 94th percentile among all CPUs with a PassMark multithread score of 36470 and a single-thread score of 4691. The frame rates scale consistently with resolution, indicating that the GPU is the bottleneck at all settings, not the CPU.

Q: What is the best settings preset for this combo at 1080p?

A: Low settings at 1920x1080 deliver the highest average FPS at 86. Medium settings provide 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS and maximum of 81 FPS, which is playable. High and Ultra drop to 44 and 31 FPS respectively, making them less suitable for smooth gameplay.

Q: Can this combo run The Long Drive at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the best result is 31 FPS at Low settings. Medium achieves 26 FPS, High 16 FPS, and Ultra only 11 FPS. These frame rates are below playable thresholds for most users, so 4K is not recommended with this configuration.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark, the Arc B370 scores 1184. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186 (0.2% higher), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190 (0.5% higher), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192 (0.7% higher). The AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168 (1.4% lower). This puts the Arc B370 in the same performance class as decade-old entry-level GPUs.

Q: Does the CPU's memory bandwidth affect the GPU's performance?

A: Yes. The Arc B370 uses system shared memory, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." The Ryzen 7 9700F supports dual-channel DDR5 with a theoretical bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s, which must be shared between CPU and GPU workloads. This shared memory architecture likely contributes to the performance drop at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its most playable results. Low settings produce an average of 86 FPS, which is the highest measured value across all resolution and settings combinations. Medium settings achieve 71 FPS average, with a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 81 FPS, indicating a reasonably stable experience. High settings drop to 44 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 31 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 55 FPS, showing that the GPU's performance varies significantly with quality preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance drops across the board. Low settings average 56 FPS, which is a 30 FPS reduction from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 46 FPS, with a minimum of 40 FPS and maximum of 53 FPS. High settings fall to 29 FPS, and Ultra to 20 FPS. The minimum FPS at Medium (40 FPS) suggests that even at this resolution, there are occasional frame dips, but the experience remains borderline playable at Low and Medium.

At 3840x2160, the limitations of the Arc B370 become severe. Low settings average 31 FPS, which is the only preset that approaches playability. Medium averages 26 FPS with a minimum of 22 FPS and maximum of 30 FPS. High drops to 16 FPS, and Ultra to 11 FPS. These results indicate that 4K is not viable for this combo, as even the lowest quality setting fails to maintain a consistent 30 FPS threshold.

The data shows that Medium settings consistently deliver the most stable experience, as evidenced by the presence of minimum and maximum FPS values for that preset at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the 60-81 FPS range indicates good frame pacing. At 1440p Medium, the 40-53 FPS range is acceptable. At 4K Medium, the 22-30 FPS range shows the GPU struggling to maintain playable performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a Zen 5 architecture processor built on a 4 nm process at TSMC, with a transistor count of 8,315 million on a 70.6 mm² die. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The 65 W TDP is modest for a desktop CPU, but the performance is substantial: the PassMark multithread score of 36470 and single-thread score of 4691 place it at the 94th percentile among all CPUs.

In the context of The Long Drive, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics simulation, and draw call processing. The driving simulation genre typically involves continuous environment streaming and vehicle dynamics calculations, which can be CPU-intensive. However, the measured FPS data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking. At 1080p Low, the GPU delivers 86 FPS, which would be a modest workload for a CPU with this level of multithreaded performance. The fact that frame rates scale directly with resolution confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor.

The Ryzen 7 9700F's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (average score 69875, 0.2% lower), the Intel Core i7-14700KF (70163, 0.2% higher), the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515, 0.7% lower), and the Intel Core i7-14700K (69355, 0.9% lower). All of these are within 1% of the 9700F's average benchmark score of 69996, indicating that the processor is in the top tier of CPU performance. This further supports the conclusion that the CPU is not the performance limiter in this game.

The CPU's cache configuration includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth provides ample data throughput for the CPU's needs. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 24 lanes is more than sufficient for the integrated GPU's requirements. The ECC memory support and unlocked multiplier are additional features that don't directly impact gaming performance but indicate a capable platform.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with this combo, Low settings at 1920x1080 provide the highest average FPS at 86, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered smooth. However, Medium settings at 1080p offer a better balance, with an average of 71 FPS and a minimum of 60 FPS, ensuring that frame rates never drop below 60 FPS. The Medium preset provides improved visual quality while maintaining consistent performance, making it the recommended choice for 1080p gaming.

At 2560x1440, Low settings are the only preset that maintains an average above 50 FPS, achieving 56 FPS. Medium settings drop to 46 FPS average with a 40 FPS minimum, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced driving. The visual quality improvement from Low to Medium at 1440p may be worth the FPS trade-off for some users, but for the smoothest experience, Low is the safer choice. High and Ultra at 1440p (29 and 20 FPS respectively) are not recommended.

At 3840x2160, no preset delivers acceptable performance. Low settings at 31 FPS are technically playable but will feel choppy, and Medium dips to 26 FPS average with a 22 FPS minimum. Users who prioritize 4K resolution should consider this combo unsuitable for The Long Drive, as even the lowest quality setting fails to maintain 30 FPS consistently. The data indicates that 1080p Medium is the sweet spot, offering 71 FPS average with no drops below 60 FPS.

The measured FPS values show that Medium settings consistently provide the most stable frame pacing, with documented minimum and maximum values across all resolutions. This suggests that the Medium preset has better optimization in this game for the Arc B370's architecture. For users who require higher visual fidelity, High settings at 1080p (44 FPS) are the highest preset that remains playable, but the 27 FPS drop from Medium to High indicates a significant performance cost.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + Intel Arc B370 combination ranks 2700 out of 2934 tested combos in The Long Drive, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This low ranking is directly attributable to the Arc B370's performance, as the GPU sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs in the database. The CPU, by contrast, ranks at the 94th percentile among all CPUs, creating a significant performance imbalance in the pairing.

The combo's ranking indicates that the vast majority of other tested configurations deliver higher frame rates in this game. The GPU's nearest rivals — the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, ATI Radeon HD 5770, AMD Radeon HD 7650M, and AMD FirePro M2000 — are all legacy parts with average 3DMark Steel Nomad scores within 1.4% of the Arc B370's 1184. This positions the GPU in a performance tier that predates modern gaming requirements.

For users considering this combo, the ranking of 2700 out of 2934 provides a clear expectation: this is among the lowest-performing configurations tested for The Long Drive. The CPU is not the issue, as the Ryzen 7 9700F's nearest CPU rivals (Ryzen 9 7940HX, Core i7-14700KF, Ryzen 9 7950X, Core i7-14700K) all cluster within 0.9% of its average benchmark score of 69996. The bottleneck is entirely the GPU, which explains why the combo ranks so poorly despite having a top-tier processor.

The practical implication is that upgrading the GPU while keeping the Ryzen 7 9700F would yield substantial performance improvements, as the CPU has ample headroom. The measured FPS data confirms this: even at 1080p Low (86 FPS), the CPU is not stressed, meaning a more capable GPU could push frame rates much higher. The combo's low rank in this game is a direct reflection of the GPU's limitations, not the CPU's capabilities.